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Night Terror
Some vigilantes are masters of the unexpected. Plying the roofs and alleyways of their territories, these terrors of the night seem like ghosts—they appear in an instant from nowhere, then vanish into the darkness just as quickly. Wielding surprise and shadow as easily as fist and blade, night terrors stalk their targets with a persistence like no other. Maneuvers A night terror begins his career with knowledge of three martial maneuvers. The disciplines available to him are Eternal Guardian, Fool’s Errand, Tempest Gale, and Veiled Moon. Once the night terror knows a maneuver, he must ready it before he can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A maneuver usable by night terrors is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in it or its discipline’s description. A night terror’s maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and he does not provoke attacks of opportunity when he initiates one. The night terror learns additional maneuvers at higher levels, as indicated on Table: Archetype Maneuver Progression. The maximum level of maneuvers gained through night terror levels is limited by those listed in that table as well, although this restriction does not apply to maneuvers added to his maneuvers known through other methods, such as prestige classes or the Advanced Study feat. A night terror must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it. See the Systems and Use chapter in Path of War for more details on how maneuvers are used. Upon reaching initiator level 4th, and at every even numbered initiator level thereafter (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), the night terror can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one he already knows. In effect, he loses the old maneuver in exchange for the new one. He can choose a new maneuver of any level he likes, as long as he observes the restriction on the highest-level maneuvers he knows; the night terror need not replace the old maneuver with a maneuver of the same level. He can swap only a single maneuver at any given level. A night terror’s initiation modifier is Charisma, and each night terror level is counted as a full initiator level. A night terror also uses his Charisma instead of his Intelligence and Wisdom for any vigilante class features he gains. Maneuvers Readied A night terror can ready all three of his maneuvers known at 1st level, and as he advances in level and learns more maneuvers, he is able to ready more, but must still choose which maneuvers to ready. A night terror must always ready his maximum number of maneuvers readied. He readies his maneuvers by meditating on the nature of his mission or practicing weapon drills for ten minutes. The maneuvers he chooses remain readied until he decides to practice again and change them. The night terror does not need to sleep or rest for any long period of time in order to ready his maneuvers; any time he spends ten minutes meditating or practicing, he can change his readied maneuvers. A night terror begins an encounter with all his readied maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how many times he might have already used them since he chose them. When he initiates a maneuver, he expends it for the current encounter, so each of his readied maneuvers can be used once per encounter (unless he recovers them, as described below). In order for the night terror to recover maneuvers, he must momentarily retreat from the battle to position himself for a new ambush. As a full-round action, the night terror gains the ability to use the Stealth skill while being observed for one round, then can make a Stealth check to hide and move up to his speed. When he does so, he recovers a number of expended maneuvers equal to his night terror initiation modifier (minimum 2). The night terror does not take a penalty on his Stealth check from moving while using this ability, and his movement is not reduced for dragging locked creatures. Alternately, the night terror may adjust his approach, reassessing his targets and recovering a single maneuver as a standard action. Stances Known A night terror begins his career with knowledge of one stance from any discipline open to night terror. At 4th, 7th, 11th, and 13th levels, he can select an additional stance to learn. The maximum level of stances gained through night terror levels is limited by those listed in Table: Archetype Maneuver Progression. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended and the night terror does not have to ready them. All the stances he knows are available to him at all times, and he can change the stance he is currently maintaining as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the stance or discipline description. Unlike with maneuvers, a night terror cannot learn a new stance at higher levels in place of one he already knows. This ability replaces the vigilante talents gained at 4th, 8th, 16th and 20th levels. This ability does not cause the night terror archetype to be incompatible with other archetypes that alter the vigilante talents class feature, so long as it still has a vigilante talent at each of these levels to give up. Vigilante Specialization (Ex) A night terror’s vigilante specialization is stalker. Unlike a normal stalker vigilante, his hidden strike damage is 1d8 at 1st level, and increases by 1d8 at 4th level and every four night terror levels thereafter. Whenever a night terror would deal hidden strike damage to a creature with a melee attack, he can forgo this additional damage to make a lock attempt against that creature instead. When he does so, he gains a bonus to his lock save DC equal to the number of hidden strike dice he has. If his lock attempt is successful, he is considered to have done hidden strike damage to the target for the purposes of vigilante talents and class features. This ability alters vigilante specialization. Improvisational Expert (Ex) A night terror is an expert at using anything around him to his advantage, striking deadly blows with mundane objects and using his location to incredible effect. At 1st level, a night terror becomes proficient with improvised weapons, and as such does not take the normal –4 penalty on attack rolls for using them. He treats improvised weapons as unarmed strikes for the purposes of affecting them with an amulet of mighty fists or similar items. At 8th level, the night terror can weaponize the environment around him; he can make attacks with unattended objects within his reach as if he was wielding them, regardless of whether or not his hands are full or what he’s otherwise wielding. This ability only gives him the ability to attack with objects around him; it does not grant him the ability to make additional attacks, nor is he considered to have extra “hands” for the purposes of fighting with two weapons. At 15th level, the night terror is so adept at using whatever is at hand to fight that he can strike opponents with objects nearby by throwing or ricocheting things into them. He can make attacks with any unattended objects within 30 feet of him against targets that are adjacent to or sharing a space with the objects. These are treated as attacks with thrown weapons, though he need not have the objects on hand, does not take the normal –4 penalty for shooting into melee, and treats the object’s space as the attack’s origin for the purposes of determining cover and concealment. He must have line of effect to both the object and the target to make an attack in this way. Night Terror Talents A night terror can choose from the following vigilante talents in addition to the normal list. This ability alters vigilante talents, but does not cause the night terror archetype to be incompatible with other archetypes that alter the vigilante talents class feature. A night terror can take the Combat Skill, Fist of the Avenger, Heavy Training, Nothing Can Stop Me, and Unkillable vigilante talents as if he were an avenger vigilante. ---- Discipline Focus (Ex): The night terror gains Discipline Focus as a bonus feat for a discipline he has access to, even if he doesn’t meet the prerequisites. He retains the feat’s benefits even if he doesn’t know three maneuvers of that discipline. ---- Just the Wind (Ex): When a night terror misses an attack against an unaware opponent, he can immediately make a Stealth check opposed by a Perception check by the creature with the highest Perception modifier among opponents who could perceive the attack. Success causes the attack to go unnoticed and his targets to remain unaware that they’re being attacked at all. The night terror must be at least 6th level to select this talent. ---- Magic Tricks (Ex): The night terror gains Quick Draw as a bonus feat and adds Mithral Current to his list of available disciplines. As the night terror is proficient in all objects as weapons, he may use his Quick Draw feat to draw any object he carries or wears, including alchemical items and magic items. If a night terror with this talent uses an alchemical item or an item holding doses of contact or injury poison as an improvised melee weapon, the target is also subjected to that item’s effects (splash weapons deal damage in an area around the target normally, but do not affect the night terror when used in this way). If he uses a consumable item in this way, it expends the item. ---- Pin to the Wall (Ex):* Whenever the night terror would deal hidden strike damage to a creature with a ranged attack, he can forgo this additional damage to make a lock attempt against that creature instead (see page 1). If his lock attempt is successful, the target is affected as if he had used the stay put vigilante talent on them, and he is considered to have done hidden strike damage to the target for the purposes of vigilante talents and class features. The night terror must have the stay put vigilante talent to select this talent. ---- Silent Takedown (Ex): When the night terror successfully locks a creature by foregoing his hidden strike damage, that creature loses the ability to speak for as long as they are locked. This prevents the target from calling out for help, using spells with verbal components, or doing anything else that requires speaking. The night terror must be at least 4th level to select this talent. ---- Stalker Art (Ex or Su): The night terror gains a single stalker art of his choice (see the stalker base class in Path of War ''and ''Path of War: Expanded). If he selects a stalker art that modifies the deadly strikes class feature, that talent applies to his hidden strikes instead, and the talent counts as a stalker vigilante talent with an asterisk (*) for the limitation of only one applying to a given hidden strike. Stalker arts requiring the use of ki points can be selected only if the night terror has a ki pool from another source. Selecting a stalker art as a vigilante talent does not qualify the night terror for the Extra Stalker Art feat. ---- Stay Put (Ex):* Whenever the night terror succeeds at a lock attempt with a weapon (such as with his hidden strikes ability), the vigilante can relinquish the weapon to cause the target to remain locked within their space, independent of the vigilante. The vigilante is no longer considered to be locking the target, and as such cannot drag them. However, the target remains locked until they succeed at a save to escape the lock (using the vigilante’s lock save DC), regardless of the vigilante’s location. If they escape, the target can choose to grab and wield the weapon used to keep them restrained; this does not provoke attacks of opportunity and takes no action. The lock from this ability is only the base lock condition; it does not include any additional effects (such as the pin from night falls). ---- Category:Source: Divergent Paths: Fool's Errand